PowerCorrupts2
The Garou Meet a Turtlebear 6/15/2010 Starring: Kevin, Nikiya, Salem, Noah The thin slice of moon is just barely visible above the trees as the shadows of evening begin to lengthen. Birdsong fills the air, not the melodic sounds of morning, but the territorial cries more common to summer evenings, and the insects buzz in clouds, attempting to avoid becoming dinner for the callers. The rustling in the underbrush is yet another testament to the Wyld's reclamation of this area. Kevin and Nikiya are walking down the side of the logging road, trying to avoid ruts and holes in the twilight. "...and I bet they have another go at building houses all over this land," Kevin is saying to his newest packmate. "They keep trying to expand Kent Crossing and the obvious direction to do it is onto the bawn. Typical. Anyway, if we keep going south we'll come to familiar territory before long." Kevin has evidently been showing Nikiya some of the lie of the local land. Salem steadily and enduringly limps his way down the old logging road, heading away from Kent Crossing, his head lowered and his hands in his pockets. A rather foul-smelling cigarette juts out of the white beard, somewhere where his mouth would be, and the shapeless boonie hat shadows his eyes. Noah is, at least, in a relatively good mood. He's headed back out toward the general direction the nearest actual, non-overgrown road lies, and is ambling in no real hurry, in a direction approaching Kevin and Nikiya, though he's still a small distance off. Nikiya follows alongside Kevin, quietly listening to him as she peers out over the surrounding land. "They might try. I stand between them and Wyld." She reaches out, gently stroking the trunk of a tree. "Beautiful out here." She offers a small nod, mostly to herself. Kevin hears the limping footsteps coming up behind them and mutters to Nikiya, "Company. Act natural." He glances over his shoulder, sees the guy in the hat, and failing utterly to recognize him, adds in a second mutter to Nikiya, "Hey, it's Gandalf." Perhaps in reaction to the conversation, the forest around the garou suddenly quiets, stills. The swarms of insects move off (apparently after different sources of sustenance), and the rustling turns almost frantic, and then ceases. You paged Nikiya with 'There's some other sound. Something still some distance away that might, maybe, be moving through the forest.' 'Gandalf' doesn't catch the mutter and hardly seems to notice the two young people walking ahead of him, but when the surrounding forest sounds change, he looks up sharply, mismatched eyes narrowing. It's only then, in looking around, that he notices the others, and his attention fixates on Kevin, who he /does/ recognize. Noah spots something on the side of the road, slows to a lazy halt, and bends to fetch it; he inspects it in his hand absently and then tosses the little stone up into the air, catching it as he does so. And, in the process, he spots those up the road, and lifts a hand to reseat the old battered hat a bit to get a better look, but he doesn't pick up his pace any. Nikiya blinks over to the two others, her eyebrows arching. Kevin's muttered remark is met with a baffled look, the Fury apparently not knowing what Lord of the Rings is. Perhaps louder than Kevin would like, she asks, "Who Gandalf?" Then, without waiting for an answer, the Fury suddenly starts glancing about, holding up a hand to indicate a request for silence, her face screwing up in concentration. Kevin takes a breath in ready to answer Nikiya's question, but then holds his silence in response to her non-verbal request. He doesn't fail to spot that 'Gandalf' has taken note of him, and he tenses a little. He's still unaware of Noah's approach from behind him, and doesn't heed any rustling from off to the side, either. Only the Fury seems to hear anything of interest. For the others, it is the silence itself that is noteworthy. Noah fails to really notice much of anything, not being a particularly woodsy sort. At any rate, he at least vaguely recognizes the Walker ragabash, as he gives an affable enough, "Hey, 'sup," as he gets close enough. And also totally missing Nikiya's request for quiet. The bearded tramp seems to consider for a moment, then grimaces and makes his way toward the others. The cigarette juts upward at a stern angle. The Fury's face turns stony and her eyes close as she concentrates for a moment. Then, she shakes her head once, turning to look toward the west, standing as still as a statue for just a moment. Noah's greeting causes the girl to briefly bare her teeth. "Shhhh. Hear something moving." She raises a hand, and points toward the west. "Only thing moving out there." Kevin gives a start as Noah greets him, and twists round. "Oh. S'you. Hush," he says curtly, and gestures vaguely -- the gesture could include Nikiya, Salem, both or neither. The sounds of movement become more clear, and even the Child of Gaia is able to pick them up. Whatever it is, it's large, and the brush visible through the trees shows the effects of its passage, as well. Those with sharper ears can pick up the individual steps as whatever it is plods its way northward, almost parallel to the road. Noah gives Kevin a baffled look, though his gaze shifts over to Nikiya as she speaks. The ragabash slips whatever he had into his pocket, and once the noises get to him his brows arch up a little and he finally pays attention to Over Thataway, where the noise is coming from. Salem, without a word, takes the cigarette from his mouth, extinguishes it between two licked fingers, and tucks it away in an inside pocket of his coat. Nikiya narrows her eyes, straightening as whatever it is comes closer. She keeps her fists clenched at her sides, her eyes focused towards the sounds of movement. Otherwise, she remains as still as a statue. "I don't like the sound of that," Kevin says, fairly loudly, trying to make sure that the hat-wearing stranger can hear. "I think maybe we ought to get out of here. What if it's Bigfoot?" "Don't be an idiot, Kevin," says 'Gandalf' in a voice completely unlike that of Ian McKellen. He sounds surly. Also very familiar, for the Walker ragabash, at least. Through a break in the brush, the vague silhouette of the source of the sounds can be seen. If it's a bear, it's something out of myth, but that's the closest creature to fitting the shadowed shape. Noah, however, pushes his hat back a little, blinking. "Holy shit, is that a bear? I didn't think they were that big." He sounds a little less-than-thrilled, though. Nikiya suddenly straightens as she spots the shape, her eyes widening. Suddenly, she's pointing at the creature, bouncing on the balls of her feet for a moment. "...Gurahl, maybe..." She takes a step forward, peering towards the sound and trying to get a better view. For just a second or two Kevin is utterly taken aback. "...Jack Salem?" he gurgles in amazement, recognizing the voice if not its owner. He has to almost force himself to look back at the thing that resembles a bear, but so much larger. "I... don't know..." he mumbles. Salem grunts at Kevin, then looks tensely back at the approaching behemoth. "Can any of you sense taint?" The creature, whatever it may be, continues on past the garou, apparently unaware of, or unconcerned by, their presence. The glimpse through the trees was all they are allowed before it disappears again. The path it follows is more north than east, and seems to be aimed directly toward the nearby town. Noah shakes his head to Salem's question. "Should we... uh, y'know, follow it?" Nikiya's eyes widen slightly, and she suddenly darts into the brush to find the path of the creature, running as fast as her feet will carry her to catch up. She attempts to get within view of the creature, while still trying to stay out of its field of vision. Kevin recovers enough to give the thing a quick cock-eyed squint. "Not Weavery, anyway," is his verdict. "Come on, guys, I don't like the look of it --" And he's off on Nikiya's heels. Salem mutters something curt under his breath and breaks into a limping run, expanding upward and growing fur as he does so. He's not gone more than a few steps before he's become a very battered and scarred old wolf and moving at a much faster, if still hobbled, run. "Guess so," the Gaian ragabash quips, and trots after the three, likewise shifting down to lupus once he's off in the brush to have better senses and whatnot. The scents that assail lupine noses are jumbled and mixed; some familiar, some not, but all alive and vibrant. Scents of earth and water, bear, turtle, flower, and storm seem to waft from the path the creature takes. When they draw closer, the image they find is almost as bizarre as the mixture of scents. Nearly twice the size of the black bear whose shape it wears, the creature also carries the shell of a giant tortoise where the hump of its back should be. Scales show beneath the fur along its legs, and when it turns toward the sounds of their movement, the garou can see similar scaling over its forehead. Where a firm, black nose should be, broad nostrils are ringed by fingers of pale flesh that wave as if of their own volition. As she comes into view of the creature, Nikiya's eyes widen, and she shifts down into her lupus form as she follows behind the beast. She quietly notes to the others that she believes this is a Wyld beast. Not Wyrm, not Weaver. Seems to be heading towards town. No clue what to do. Kevin is another one to shift into lupus. It is dangerous. The Wyld can overrun and destroy a town just as much as Weaver or Wyrm, he points out. Scar bares his fangs and utters a sharply commanding growl. Divert it, then. Do not kill it. Traveler trots after the three, eyeing the bear-thing dubiously. Divert it to where, though? The nose tentacles continue a soft undulation for a moment, apparently studying the garou, and then it turns away from them and continues its northward journey. Lonely-Road seems almost awed at the creature, quietly trotting after it. Chimera, maybe. Where to divert? How? It looks like it is on a mission. She keeps a decent distance from the creature, watching it carefully as she follows. Speech-and-Silence lets out a little growl. What if it does not want to be diverted? Scar turns his good eye toward his tribe mate and, with an upward flick of his broken tail, challenges the other to /try/. Then he lopes after the beast as quickly as he can, trying to circle around to its front. Traveler looks a little uneasy by this prospect, but he pads forward a bit gingerly, eyeing the creature and looking ready to spring backwards if it should take a swipe. The Turtle-Bear does, indeed, seem very focused, and once again heading north it seems to pay no heed to the antics of the wolves around it. They have no difficulty moving around in relation to the creature, as it also appears to be in no hurry. Each step carries it forward at a steady pace. For a moment, Lonely-Road hesitates, hanging back and watching the creature with that same awe-filled gaze. Then, with a snort, she puts on a boost of speed, aiming to very gently brush along the side of the Turtle-Bear's leg, to try and coax it to change its direction. She keeps an eye on its claws as she does this, ready to get out of the way if it doesn't take too kindly to this. Speech-and-Silence, for all that Scar is in theory of lesser rank than him, falls in with the suggestion, and scoots up front. Passing it, he turns, grows up to hispo form, and stands foursquare in its path, like a traffic cop. Scar shifts upward into the dire wolf form as well and shows the creature his very considerable fangs as he joins Speech-and-Silence. His muzzle wrinkles back in a fearsome snarl. Traveler, for his part, continues padding alongside the bear and joins Lonely-Road in giving it a bump to try to steer it. Though it doesn't seem to take note of Nikiya's or Traveler's contact at all, with the pair of hispo blocking its path, the creature does pause. It looks at them with what can only be called a placid expression, as grass, quite literally, begins to grow beneath its feet. Then it turns, apparently intending to go around the fanged blockade. Taking this in stride, Lonely-Road shifts up to hispo form. She darts out in front of the bear, turning to stare at it, though with none of the bared fangs that Scar offered. As it turns, she is sure to move with it, so that she is facing it. In this, she attempts to get the creature to turn back the way it came. ~Don't think it wants to be diverted...~ Speech-and-Silence seems a little relieved, but only a little, by the altered path of the being. ~Even if we change its path now, he points out, it will run into something at some point and cause trouble. Are we to shepherd it all the way to the nearest Spiral hole?~ Scar swings his head around toward Speech-and-Silence. ~You're being defeatist.~ He sounds a little impatient, a little exasperated. Perhaps not just a little. ~If you have a better idea, then speak.~ Traveler keeps following, still in lupus. Uh. I just don't know where to take it /to/. Having turned to the right to bypass the blockade, the creature adjusts its course to head northward once more, rather than turning to the south as Nikiya seems to intend. It does not, however, adjust any further than that, and whatever its destination is either large enough, or far enough, that having added several meters of easterly travel does not seem to impact the journey. The railroad tracks are now visible crossing through the forest ahead, and just off to the side sits an old, rusted out truck. Lonely-Road lets out a small whine, falling in line beside the beast once more. Her eyes focus on the truck, her head tilted to one side. Otherwise, she waits to see what the others will do, her ears pinned back against her head. ~I have no ideas.~ ~I don't want to attack it... but...~ Speech-and-Silence's unspoken conclusion is obvious. ~Do you think we can shepherd it to somewhere safe, Scar?~ He backtracks, staying ahead of the turtlebear, coming near to the tracks now. ~I told you,~ says the scarred Philodox. ~We can try.~ One setback seems not to have discouraged him at all, and he hobbles quickly toward the Wyld beast, snapping and snarling and generally being an obstacle toward its path north. Traveler huffs a sigh and moves up to hispo, and goes about a-bear-herding. Or attempting to. This time the turtle-bear doesn't pause when the scarred hispo blocks its path. Instead, it simply turns, continuing on to the east for as long as there is a hispo barring the way north. As it nears the rusted out pick-up, the truck roars to life. Literally. The hood pops open and from deep within comes a rush of air, a voice like a lion. The hood snaps shut again with a gnashing of teeth, and tawny golden fur replaces the rust. Oh. Lonely-Road skids to a halt, staring in near disbelief as the Truck-thingie roars to life. ~This must be what it was after. Holy shit.~ Staring daggers at the lion-truck-thing, the Fury begins to shift up to crinos, letting out her own roar of fury in response to the...thing's roar. ~We can try,~ agrees Speech-and-Silence. And he throws his lot in with Salem, yapping and growling at the big creature, trying to divert it. His initial pleasure when it turns east is replaced by dismay when it works its magic on the truck. ~Veil...~ he growls, seeing what's been done to the truck's appearance. He hasn't yet realized that there may be more to it than just its form. Traveler starts, fur fluffing up along his spine. ~Holy shit!~ he gapes, staring at the truck for a heartbeat or three. ~What /now/?~ Scar's focus remains on the Turtle-Bear itself, he glances toward the transformed truck for only a moment. ~It won't last,~ he says, after a pause. ~Probably.~ He continues his efforts to keep the creature from going north. Even if that means herding it east. Eastward it goes, step after plodding step. It turns, more frequently, to regard its garou shepherds, but its general demeanor remains placid. The truck seems to pick itself up, as if from a long sleep, and gives a rough shake, rust falling away like snow to reveal more of the tawny fur beneath. It turns its head to look at the four near-wolves, and blinks at them uncomprehendingly. Lonely-Road watches the truck suspiciously, tensing. She hesitates here, peering between the Truck-Lion and the Turtle-Bear, a baffled look upon her face. ~...This is all very confusing.~ Speech-and-Silence, with evident misgivings, continues to shepherd the Wyld thing eastward, while using his hearing and scent to try and keep tabs on the truck-thing also. Scar's manner is simply grim. He does make some attempt to angle the beast in a more southerly direction. His attention flicks toward his tribe mate after a short period of time. ~Silence, perhaps you can backtrack it? Find out where it came from.~ Traveler eyes the truck-beast a little warily, following along and trying to keep tabs on /everything/ now. ~What if that thing does that to /us/?~ Though it continues on to the east, the creature seems to take every opportunity to shift its path northward. Step after step, it goes, until it passes beyond sight of the old rutted road. The lion-truck lets out another massive roar and settles onto its haunches... onto its wheels... and what was is no longer, only the truck remaining. The rust that fell colors the dirt around it, but the truck, itself, seems to be only what it was before. Lonely-Road blinks quietly after the lion-creature, shifting back down into hispo as she quickly catches up to the others, her ears back. ~I don't think it can do that to us...this thing is crazy, though. What should we do with it?~ She helps the others herd the creature. Speech-and-Silence considers for a second. The sight of the truck reverting to its previous status seems to tip his decision. ~Very well. I will stay in contact with Lonely-Road by pack link, and report if I find anything.~ He begins to head back the way he came, but pauses. ~It's really good to have you back...~ he adds, awkwardly, to Scar. And then he is off, at some speed. Scar answers Silence's awkward statement with a gruff exhale and a flick of his maimed ear. ~I won't kill it,~ he rumbles, answering the Fury. He speaks as though he's only come to this decision in the last few minutes. ~I will keep it from the human places if I can, but I will not kill it.~ Traveler flicks his ears. ~We may end up having to follow it for awhile... or... I dunno, where can we put it? Even if we move it away from /this/ city it'll move towards another one.~ The herding still seems mostly successful, and before too long, the garou can see the edge of Highway 22 where it runs southward through the forest. Lonely-Road nods quietly to Scar, seeming to feel much better just from that statement. ~If we can, we should try to take it to the mountains. Some place where the humans will be safe from this thing...if it can turn a rusty truck into a lion, it will be much worse if it gets to human places...~ As they come up on the highway, she frowns, as much as any hispo can frown. ~This...could be bad...~ Scar looks troubled as well, but says, ~The changes to the truck didn't last. Hopefully, this won't, either. Hopefully, there won't be any traffic.~ His ears perk forward, listening for the sound of car engines. Traveler eyes the road, and ambles over to try to assist in steering it from going /to/ the road. ~Maybe that's what it does. Turns cars into things. And that's why it wants to go to the road.~ Yes, genius, that's probably exactly it. Though this end of the highway is not well trafficked, there are occasional cars heading to and from the nearby homes, or the entrance to the park to the south. At the moment there is the distant sound of a single engine, though it seems to be approaching, rather than departing. Lonely-Road's ears pin flat against her head. ~Not good. Let it turn north for a second. Buy some time.~ She backs off, giving the Turtle-Bear some leeway to turn north. ~I think this is the Wyld's way of lashing out at the Weaver...~ Scar slows to a halt beside the Fury, his body language radiating displeasure. ~It is a Gorgon. Like a fomor, only possessed by the Wyld instead of the Wyrm. This is the first I have ever seen, personally.~ He shifts his weight, lifting his rear hind paw slightly, and watches the beast. Traveler is a bit at a loss as to what suggestions to offer, so he just follows along with what others are doing, watching it with a bit of unease combined with confusion. Given the freedom to return to its original path, the turtle-bear does, and yet again, it shows no sign that the eastward diversion has impacted its overall goals; wherever it is ultimately headed must be significantly farther away than the town just to their north. Lonely-Road flick an ear towards Scar, her head tilting to one side as she trots alongside the creature. ~Think it might be a crossbreed of the Wyld, actually...thinking on it, I remember my mother talking to me about them. This thing is on a mission. Has something it REALLY has to do, a reason to exist.~ She keeps an ear towards the road. Scar cocks an eye toward the Fury, then looks back at the beast, considering. ~Perhaps. But unless I misremember the area, it will no longer go into the human settlement. I suggest we let it do as it will.~